WE, the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, the People's Republic of China, Republic of India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America on the occasion of the 13th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Singapore, on 15 November 2018;

EMPHASISING that the East Asia Summit, with ASEAN as the driving force, will continue to be a Leaders-led forum for dialogue on broad strategic, political, and economic issues of common interest and concern, with the aim of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in East Asia;

NOTING the common aspiration to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its focus on people, planet, and prosperity, peace and partnership, not only for this generation but for generations to come, with concern over the health of oceans and marine biodiversity which form an integrated and essential component of the Earth's ecosystem and are critical to sustaining it;

NOTING with concern the high and rapidly increasing levels of marine plastic litter and the expected increase in negative effects on marine biodiversity, ecosystems, animal well-being, fisheries, maritime transport, recreation and tourism, local societies and economies, and the urgent need for strengthened knowledge of the levels and effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on marine ecosystems, seafood and human health;

RECOGNISING the adverse impact of climate change, ecological changes and natural disasters, among other factors, and the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including oceans, and in this effort, recognising the importance of relevant multilateral environmental agreements;

WELCOMING the 5th Our Ocean Conference which was held in Bali, Indonesia, on 29-30 October 2018 which recognised the urgent need for collective and coordinated actions to address the challenge of marine debris in the region;

EMPHASISING the importance of sustainable lifestyle, consumption and production patterns to advance the reduction of marine plastic debris;

FURTHER EMPHASISING the importance of measures of resource efficiency, including circular economy, product lifecycle management, sustainable materials management, and reduce, reuse, recycle (“3R”) approaches, as appropriate;

RECOGNISING that the efforts on environmentally sound plastic waste management contribute to the prevention and reduction of marine plastic debris;